Public relations team places 3rd at TPRA competition

By Kristina Kenney University News Service November 23, 2011

A team of public relations students from Texas State University-San Marcos placed third for Best Overall Digital Media Plan at the 2011 student competition sponsored by the Texas Public Relations Association.

The competition was held Nov. 11 at the University of Texas at Dallas in conjunction with TPRA’s fall Digital Media Summit. A total of 12 teams representing eight college public relations programs in Texas attended the competition.

The theme of the competition focused on social media in public relations. Teams were given a hypothetical scenario, similar to what a public relations agency might be asked to do on behalf of a client, and were then given 90 minutes to write down detailed steps of how they planned to use new media, including social media, to help the clients address their problem.

The team from Texas State included students Caitlyn Denham, Callie Hill, Jacqueline Holm and Julio Rochell. The team’s faculty sponsor an associate professor of public relations, Francis Walsh, said the students really liked the idea of such a competition.

“Representing the university was important to them, and they really liked the opportunity to demonstrate their skills with new media,” Walsh said.

For more information on the competition, contact Francis Walsh at (512) 245-2656 or by email at fw12@txstate.edu.